Her Story of Success and Not     

Rene Baba – Her story of success and not

The speaker for April 17, 2018 was Oakland based Rene Baba. She gave an unusual presentation into her journey down the road to life, taking both the hard roads and the highways to success.

“Many of us start into making jewelry for ourselves, then for friends and family, then it becomes a hobby, then, if we are fortunate, someone sees our work and we start to sell what we make”….

As a teenager, she met a friend who taught her how to string beads onto fishing line using the “over the head/no closure” method. And her passion for making jewelry was born. As the years passed, she also dabbled in photography and painting ~ obviously very artistic.

Once Rene started to bead, she realized that beads have a mind of their own. Experience eventually taught her that an initial idea or design in mind can often develop or change altogether along the way. This freedom in her process of creating lead to incorporating different materials.  She fell in love with gemstones, leather, seed beads, wood, metal and acrylic ~ not having a love in only one area. Rene expanded into different techniques of each material, and ended up in wire wrapping, working in leather, multiple threads, wood, and fabric ~ obviously a well rounded mixed media artist! These

different processes help Rene avoid the monotony of making the same designs, which she compares to “work”.

The vast array of bead colors available fascinated her and facilitated her creating necklaces, earrings, bracelets, bookmarks, chandeliers, and even houseware.  No idea went unexplored.  She purchased The Earring Style Book which brought her techniques into a closer meld with productivity.  Because of this book, her love went back into wire wrapping again which then branched off to metal stamping, metal forming, and soldering.  She saved money by buying sheets of aluminum at Home Depot, which quickly became her home away from home.  Forever a student, she was challenged to change every time she conquered a technique with her creativity in a constant ebb and flow.

Having heard of Etsy, she opened a site in 2010 but had absolutely no idea what was involved in maintaining or marketing her online shop.  As a result, she had few sales.  Knowing that this was not what she wanted, she put her store in “vacation mode”.  Eventually, her desire to sell, along with her growing inventory made her revisit selling on Etsy with an “…if others can do this, so can I….” attitude.

Her first sales were of her wire work. Sales came in from all over the world and she was amazed. “Why MY things?”  She purchased a “Wig Jig” and started experimenting with the various gauges of wire. She expanded on her metal stamping and that became successful as well.

Her first metal shears were from Home Depot, complete with a serrated blade.  She learned how to cut out a shape from thick paper using it as a template, cut out the metal, then file and form it back into shape. She purchased PVC pipe to hammer against to create curves to begin metal forming. To improve on her techniques, she took classes and bought the book from Joe and Anat Silvera whose school, Silvera Jewelry School, is located in Berkeley, CA.

Soon, sales for her leather work began.  Leather was lighter weight than metal for shipping. She found that she could use small pieces of embellished leather in creating earrings.  Almost all of her first leather offerings on Etsy sold out at once! She would keep pictures of each style but didn’t like to duplicate them once created.  She pushed the envelope once more by using paint to add color on the leather. It seemed, once more, that her mixed media mind was evolving on the table as she worked.
It is on the top most priority of doctors when they talk about the treatment of erectile dysfunction. viagra usa pharmacy The figures available on the matter of canadian cialis online race and Parkinson’s risk are yet again variable. prescription for ordering viagra The drug upon the occurrence of sexual arousal in which signals are sent from the brain into penile nerve network. When title recommends every type on levitra on line http://deeprootsmag.org/2019/05/17/timeless-topics-home-and-spring/ the movie is full of the branded ingredient, including activity having good tricks, comedy using nerve-tickling series and also prefer that.
She learned important lessons from creating jewelry:  1) no self judgement; 2) mistakes are often a blessing in disguise, but can be costly – especially when working with metal; 3) creativity is a gift; skill takes practice; 4) thrive in chaos; 5) keep learning; and 6) stay balanced.   And especially:  no matter what technique she was using, learning and perfecting techniques take time and practice.

She visited Beaducation’s booth when at a bead show in Oakland.  Here, she only purchased a hole punch because at the time she had no idea what many of the items were, or what they were used for.  She felt she wasn’t knowledgeable enough to know how to even ask the right questions. Fast forward several years later and they would  “discover” her through Instagram and asked her to be a featured artist for their blog.

She vowed that she will forever be a student, and often learns from the questions and comments from others that she meets at bead shows and in classes.

2007-2008 while on Etsy, she was discovered by a “middleman” who worked with Nordstrom and Anthropologie.  The person knocked her for a loop when she asked if she was able to make “10,000-50,000 units within a 6-month period. How on earth could she possibly make so many pieces and so quickly!?! The money in the contract showed a 300% mark-up ~ demands that were so far outside her concept that she was floored. They asked her

for a “story board” of her ideas.  The comments went back and forth for 2-3 months and then stopped.  They had her ideas, her examples, her story board and now were not answering her inquiries.  By the last day of the agreement period there was still no answer, and another month passed without any response.  She finally went around the circuit and learned that the woman had been fired right after receiving her pieces.  Their excuse was that “money was an issue and everything was on hold”…..well….so was her life!

Rene began taking poetry and sculpture in college, but graduated as a business major.  Her concentration was naturally in entrepreneurship, the most creative aspect of business! Now she has had a day job in bookkeeping; but right before coming to the BSNC meeting, she was laid off.  She recently met the love of her life and has decided to relocate out of state. She believes this could mean a welcomed change in occupation.  She feels that she would have been better off using those college years expanding her skills as a jewelry artist.

She constantly finds notes that she has written or drawn in pockets, drawers, old purses.  Rene suggests surfing the web in places like Facebook, Etsy, and Pinterest for ideas. She often makes finished pieces without initial designs in place. The colors and materials lead the way!   Rene also looks to nature for inspiration.  Right now, she has discovered the color and shapes found in tropical plants, and tries to incorporate them into her creations.

A member asked her how she determined the price of her items.  She said there are articles on the internet on how to pay other workers, but she has yet to find one on how to pay yourself.  She advised us to keep detailed records on your time and keep a timer and log book.  We have often heard: “Love what you do and it doesn’t feel like work.”  Rene quoted those very words that night.  Take your pieces to wherever the money is.  ART WALK in Oakland has a $10-$100 range, so your pieces should fit in there somewhere.  Set the perceived value of your pieces by learning how others have priced their pieces.  At “hobby level” your have priced your creations too low. Move to “artist level” and charge accordingly.  It is important to learn how to value your artistry – your creations!

“Merry everything and a happy always”…..

 

by marilyn peters